Mary Njoku Questions Need For JAMB, Post-UTME Exams

Nollywood actress, Mary Njoku, has stirred a fresh debate over the relevance of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.

In a post shared on her Instagram Story, the film producer questioned why students still need to sit for JAMB and post-UTME examinations when the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) already proves that a candidate has completed secondary school.

“Why is it necessary to take the JAMB exam to gain admission into universities? Isn’t the SSCE sufficient?” she wrote. “I don’t understand the need for JAMB + post-JAMB when the SSCE already shows we’ve completed secondary school.”

Njoku’s comments come on the heels of widespread criticism directed at JAMB following the release of results from the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which revealed a high failure rate.

In response to the outrage, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, admitted that there were errors in the results of some candidates and issued an apology. He announced that 379,997 affected candidates from 157 out of the 882 examination centres—particularly in Lagos and the South-East—would be required to retake the examination starting Friday, May 16.